Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act
The landmark legislation passed in 2010, The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA), made significant changes and provided great opportunities for improvement to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program.
When the HHFKA was passed, we made immediate adjustments in our programs to align with new law and to make changes now that are going to be required in the future, such as:
- Providing only fat-free and low-fat milk, eliminating high fructose corn syrup in milk, and reducing total added sugar in flavored milk.
- Adding drinking water to all dining programs at no additional cost to students
- Promoting the availability of after-school meal programs that are offered in all 50 states.
New Meal Standards for Breakfast and Lunch
The HHFKA also called for an update to the national meal standards for the breakfast and lunch programs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released these new standards in January 2012, and Chartwells has been hard at work preparing our districts to implement them beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Below are some highlights of the new regulations:
- The new meal standards bring school meals in line with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
- These new school meal regulations will start in the 2012-2013 school year.
- Further changes to both breakfast and lunch will be required in following years (2013-2014 and 2014-2015).
Increase in Fruits and VegetablesThe new regulations require schools to offer a larger amount and increased variety of nutrient-dense vegetables over the course of the week, including dark green, orange, starchy vegetables and legumes (beans) and there is a minimum required each day.- Fruit is required daily and at increased portion sizes.
- Requiring a greater quantity and variety of fruits and vegetables will expose students to more nutrient-dense foods that are a part of a healthy diet.
Allowable Grains and Proteins- Menus must offer specific amounts of whole grains and proteins throughout the week, but cannot exceed maximum amounts defined for each grade group. Half of the grains offered at lunch each week must be whole grain rich.
- This requirement will apply to breakfast in school year 2013-2014, and by school year 2014-2015 only whole grain rich foods will be allowable in both the breakfast and lunch programs.
- Chartwells has already made great strides in increasing the variety of whole grains on our menus, serving items like whole grain pizza crust, rolls, muffins, pancakes, waffles and cereal.
Reduction of Saturated Fats, Sodium, and Elimination of Trans Fats- School breakfasts and lunches offered to all age/grade groups must, on average over the school week, provide less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fat.
- The new guidelines establish a timeline for reducing sodium in school meals significantly over the next 10 years.
- Chartwells chefs and registered dietitians have worked to modify and develop creative new recipes using non-salt seasonings, herbs and tasty fresh food.
- Under the new final rule, schools can only use food products and ingredients that contain zero grams of trans fat per serving, as indicated on the nutrition label, beginning in 2012 for lunch and 2013 for breakfast
Menus by Age Groups- The regulations established new grade groups for menu planning, aimed at ensuring students receive age-appropriate portions and nutrients. The groups include:
- Grades K-5 (ages 5-10 years)
- Grades 6-8 (ages 11-13 years)
- Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18 years)
- New calorie requirements were also developed to align with the newly established grade groups.
- Menus must provide adequate, but not excessive, calories for the various age groups.
Lynn Public Schools Wellness Policy: Click Here
